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The consumer watchdog looked into bookings where additional costs are added to the price of the tickets in later stages of the sale. Photo: Domino Postiglione►MATT CARR: Perils of buying e-tickets

Australia’s largest ticketsellers Ticketek and Ticketmaster have been forced to clean up their act after an investigation by the consumer watchdog of their pricing practices.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission looked into ticketsellers’ “drip pricing”, where a ticket for an event is advertised at a certain price, but ends up costing more as various charges come on top during the later stages of the booking process.

The ACCC found examples where Ticketek and Ticketmaster had failed to clearly state what they called “single minimum total prices” by not including “unavoidable fees” in advertised ticket prices.

“Although the law does not prevent traders from charging fees, it does require that they are disclosed clearly to avoid consumers being misled,” ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said.

“Drip feeding consumers with hidden charges has the potential to cause detriment to competition and to consumers.”

As a result of the investigation, both companies now include payment processing fees in their per-ticket advertised price of tickets.

In addition, Ticketek include their service/delivery fee as soon as the customer selects the number of tickets required and the delivery method, while Ticketmaster includes its handling fee once the number of tickets has been chosen.

Three types of fees were targeted during the investigation – the payment processing fee, Ticketek’s service delivery fee and Ticketmaster’s handling fee.

The payment processing fee applies to certain events and for people using a credit or debit card to complete their transaction. It doesn’t apply to transactions at the box office when using cash or redeeming gift vouchers.

Ticketek’s service/delivery fee is charged on a per-transaction basis for certain events, varies depending on delivery method, but is unavoidable when applied, irrespective of the payment method.

Ticketmaster’s handling fee is also charged per transaction for certain events and when applied is also unavoidable.

“The steps taken by these ticketing companies should give consumers more clarity up-front about the total cost of buying tickets for entertainment events,” Ms Rickard said.

To avoid paying more than they expect, consumers should be aware of drip pricing practices online, particularly in the airline, entertainment, accommodation and car hire industries, the consumer watchdog advised.

They should also shop around and weigh up all payable charges when choosing the best price, and be prepared to walk away from transasctions that add additional charges in later stages of the sales process, the ACCC said.

The widely watched NAB business confidence index has recorded an unchanged result for the September quarter.

Business confidence for the quarter was +6, the same as for the June quarter. This is slightly above the long-term average levels of +5.

But “the monthly index shows that confidence eroded over the course of the quarter”, according to NAB.

“Given the persistent uncertainty facing firms, stemming from factors both domestic and abroad, any expectation for a significant rebound in domestic demand would seem premature,” it said. “Both consumers and business remain cautious about spending, despite encouragement from very low interest rates, which is unsurprising given slower rates of income growth.”

The NAB report described business conditions as “soft”, with the confidence index jumping from +1 to +3. Unfortunately, this improvement seems to be temporary, according to NAB.

“The monthly survey showed that much of the improvement came from a surprising and narrowly based jump in conditions during July,” NAB said. “Conditions steadily eased over the remainder of the quarter. Consistent with this, forward orders eased, indicating limited momentum for domestic demand in the near term.”

Among business sectors, recreation, personal services, finance, property and business services reported the most positive business conditions, while mining continued to be weak.

The recent depreciation in the Australian dollar occurred after the survey period, so it is not reflected in firms’ responses to the impact of the dollar. However, the fall in the dollar is a “positive note” for confidence, said the report, as is the surging property market.

The decline in the dollar “will help Australian export competitiveness, although with the drawback of higher cost pressures”.

Residential construction “remains a relatively bright spot that should have flow-on effects to the rest of the economy.”

The very public argument started with 21 characters tweeted by the Please Like Me star to Roy: “You’re being a twerp”.

The comment was made in reply to the Queensland MP’s tweet: “1100 deaths at sea, 1400 children in detention.Our polices have saved lives– a fact lost on Labor members”.

The tweet was accompanied by a nearly five-minute video of Roy addressing Parliament on the “hypocrisy of the Left”. . @Wyatt_MP You’re being a twerp. — Josh Thomas (@JoshThomas87) October 22, 2014

[email protected]_MP And why not be crueler? We are a great, rich nation. Kick them in the balls, film it and put it on YouTube. — Josh Thomas (@JoshThomas87) October 22, 2014Sydney Morning Herald article about allegations of 33 cases of sexual abuse involving children in detention centres in Australia.

“Remember when you guys cut foreign aid? Remember when you spend $1b a year on detention centres? You aren’t nice guys/girl,” Thomas tweeted.

The 27-year-old also quizzed Roy on what would happen to gay refugees settled in Papua New Guinea, where homosexuality is illegal.

Roy, who was the youngest person ever elected to the Australian Parliament, was quick to defend his side, saying there were at least 515 fewer children in detention compared to when the government took office.

The 24-year-old said Australia could now accommodate “more of the world’s most vulnerable” and asylum seekers were no longer drowning trying to reach Australia.

@JoshThomas87 In 07 only 4 ppl in detention, no children. 2013 1400 children in detention.Reduced that # by over 516 http://t上海龙凤论坛/OgUBh3K26K — Wyatt Roy MP (@Wyatt_MP) October 22, 2014

@JoshThomas87 is this part of your routine? I wouldn’t open with that in any company http://t上海龙凤论坛/OgUBh3K26K — Wyatt Roy MP (@Wyatt_MP) October 22, 2014

Morrison kept his fingers clear of the keyboard. In fact, he hasn’t posted on his verified Twitter account since 2013, when he congratulated the Cronulla Sharks rugby league team on “an incredible performance in such a tough season”.

This isn’t the first time Thomas has taken an Australian politician to task. Earlier this month on ABC’s Q&A program, Thomas got into a heated exchange with maverick north Queensland MP Bob Katter about comments he had made about homosexuality.

“You go out and you deny the existence of homosexuals in North Queensland; they exist. There’s an app called Grindr; I’ll put it on your phone,” Thomas said.

“All you need to do to answer the question is say: ‘You know what, I’ve said some stuff in the past, it was a mistake. I understand now, it’s hurting people’s mental health, it’s part of the problem, not part of the solution. I’m sorry, hooray for gay people, here’s some glitter.’ That’s it. You’ve fixed it.”

HSC students evacuated after gas leak Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

Photos from the Ulladulla High School gas leak.

TweetFacebook Ulladulla High School gas leakRELATED CONTENT: How the drama unfolded.

HSC students sitting their business studies examwere among almost 800 pupilsevacuatedThursday whena gas leak forced the closure ofa South Coast school.

The 16 Ulladulla High School studentswere only 30 minutes into their exam when they were evacuated from the school hall after a leak from gas bottle was found under their building.

Students from other years were also evacuated and it is understood the school will remain closed for several hours.

Ulladulla High School principal Denise Lofts said all students were “safe and well”andunder the supervision of teachers at the Ulladulla Civic Centre.

“Police and Fire Brigade are at the school monitoring the situation and coordinating a resolution of the gas leak,” she said.

“At this stage it does not appear that the school will reopen for a couple of hours and we would encourage parents and carers to sign out their children for the day.”

A spokesman for the Board of Studies said the school would need to lodge an illness or misadventure form on behalf of the students who were sitting the exam.

“The safety of students is our first priority,” the spokesman said.

“We will look at the part of the exams that they did do in the half an hour and look at their school assessment mark and determine a mark that would reflect what they would have expected to achieve in an exams.”

The spokesman said the students could not re-sit the exam because they had already seen the paper but they would not be disadvantaged.

“If an illness or misadventure application is upheld, the Board of Studies will consider other indicators of the students’ performance, such as school assessment marks, to ensure that the students are not disadvantaged by this occurrence,” he said.

“All students who presented for the business studies examination will be awarded a fair and consistent result for the course.”

More than 16,200 students are sitting the business studies exam this year.

The first cut is the deepest.I visited a potential client at its state office this week. The business no longer has a receptionist, so visitors ring the buzzer and wait for an employee to let them in. Ten minutes later a stressed-out staff member let me in and our meeting started late.

I’m sure the beancounters in the company’s interstate headquarter are chuffed admin staff have been axed. They may not realise keeping clients waiting, and disrupting staff who have to open the door, costs more in the long run than the small salary saved.

How many other corporate cost-cutting measures cost more than they save over time? How many truly dumb cost savings do little other than to infuriate staff and customers, disrupt the business and commit the cardinal sin of damaging revenue?

What’s your view?What are some of the most insane, trivial corporate cost-cutting decisions you have seen?Without naming companies, what are some examples of cuts that created more expense or lost revenue in the long run?

A friend this year was made redundant after 20 years of service in a big organisation. A huge payout followed and within a few months the company had to hire him back as a consultant and pay a lot more than his previous salary. It was yet another example of companies not doing their sums correctly on cutbacks.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for genuine, well-planned cost cutting. It should be an everyday part of business, not a “corporate event” when a manager decides to find extra savings. In a slow-growth environment, every dollar of unnecessary cost, no matter how trivial, must be cut.

But some cuts have unintended consequences that, in my experience, finance managers, especially those new to the business, rarely consider. They damage organisation culture, sap the productivity of front-line sales staff, or upset longstanding clients.

Here are seven cost cuts that, managed poorly, can drive staff and customers mad, and cost much more than they save over time. Add your suggestions by commenting on this blog.

1. Graduates

This is one of the easier costs to cut, until business picks up and the company is badly short-staffed. Rather than recruit young, ambitious, cheaper graduates, the company perseveres with costlier, disgruntled workers who are hard to move. Surprise, surprise, the company finds it is “top heavy” within a few years. Money saved from not hiring an extra graduate or two inevitably costs the business much more.

2. The city-fringe office location

Lease costs can be a big expense, so it makes sense to do whatever it takes to reduce them. But is moving the office from a prime city location to a cheap building on the city fringe the best answer? Staff have to commute longer to work, they spend more time getting to city meetings, and clients have further to travel. A bigger focus on staff teleworking from home a day or two each week, or hot-desking, could reduce office space and save money, yet so many companies just move offices and disrupt their workforce.

3. The switchboard

How many corporate switchboards seem to have one or two frantic operators on duty? It takes forever to get through if you don’t know a direct line, and the poor operator immediately seems stressed and rushed upon taking your call. The result: lost business. Smart companies know investing a bit more in the front office is a worthy investment.

4. Sales incentives

I have seen companies decide their sales force is earning too much and reduce commissions. Yes, their sales force should be paid market rates, but ill-considered changes to incentives inevitably results in the best sales executives leaving. Those who stay lose some motivation, revenue growth slows and the small amount of money saved pales in comparison.

5. The Christmas party

These can be costly for large companies and having a lavish Christmas party sends a bad message in a cost-cutting environment. But so does an extreme penny-pinching party: making staff pay their own way, not allowing partners to attend, having budget finger food rather than a sit-down dinner, and so on. The company asks staff all year to do more with less, then makes the year’s main social event a torturous, dull event that reminds staff of their employer’s meanness. Instead of having an affordable, reasonable Christmas party, companies go straight for the cheapest option, which hurts morale.

6. Excessive leave rules

A personal favourite. The company decides staff cannot have more than two weeks leave owing at the end of the financial year, or insists at least a week or two of annual leave is taken over the Christmas/New Year period. The result: some employees feel jaded by mid-year, sick leave rises and productivity falls.

7. Taxis

Nobody can blame companies limiting taxi usage and ensuring staff do not rort the system. Taxi charges and all their ad-on fees are exorbitant. But I can’t understand companies that ask staff to get the bus or train, or other public transport, to the airport or meetings. The money saved in taxis is dwarfed by the employee’s lost time and productivity.

THINK BIG: An investment opportunity at 240-244 Pacific Highway, Charlestown.CHARLESTOWN asset The Forum at 240-244 Pacific Highway is for sale via expressions of interest closing on November 13.

It is an investment property with a strong tenant mix including Hoyts Six Cinema complex, Suncorp(AAMI ), Link Group (PSI Superannuation), JobFind and Commonwealth Rehab Services.

Alongside the Mattara Hotel and near GPT’s flagship Charlestown Square, the property is listed through Colliers agents Peter Dodds and Adam Leacy. Agents say future development potential includes residential apartments up to a height of 30metres subject to council approval.

The Hoyts lease runs to June 2026 plus options.

Offering 6554square metres of lettable space and 226 car spaces, it attracts an income of $2,004,321 per year.

VACANT: 414 High St, Maitland.

A VACANT building in a central Maitland Mall location is for sale. With an asking price of $460,000 plus GST, the airconditioned building comprises two offices and open-plan space, with a separate kitchen and amenities area.

‘‘This is a quality building at the start of the Maitland Mall and worthy of a look by investors and owner occupiers alike,’’ he said.

READY: An ariel view of 37 Wilsons Rd, Mount Hutton.

EXPRESSIONS of interest will close next month for a residential development site at Mount Hutton.

Situated at 37 Wilsons Road, the 27,190-square-metre site is currently DA approved for a 16-lot subdivision with lots ranging in size from 900square metres to 2894square metres.

It is estimated the 16 lots would accommodate approximately 75 medium density dwellings.

The site had previous consent for a 20-lot subdivision comprising 86 medium density dwellings.

On the southern side of Lake Macquarie Fair shopping centre, which is anchored by Coles, Woolworths, Big W, KFC and the Lake Macquarie Tavern, it is less than 10minutes from Charlestown Square and 20minutes from Newcastle’s central business district.

Expressions of interest close on Thursday, November 13 through Knight Frank Newcastle agent Josh Smith.

‘‘The property offers an outstanding opportunity to purchase a small residential development site in the expanding area of Mount Hutton [Lake Macquarie], within 100metres of Lake Macquarie Fair shopping centre. All of the hard work in relation to planning has been done, just purchase and develop,’’ Mr Smith said.

TENANTED: 956 Hunter St, Newcastle.

A TWO-LOT strata development on the northern side of Hunter Street will go under the hammer next month. Two hundred metres west of the Tudor Street intersection, the ground-floor single-storey office building at Lot 2, 956 Hunter Street, has been refurbished and is zoned B4 Mixed Use under the Newcastle Local Environmental Plan 2012.

The building has a reception area, multiple meeting rooms and offices, two boardrooms, a large open-plan area with quality work stations, staff break-out rooms, lunch room, amenities and disabled access.

It sits above a common under-croft car park with approximately 23 spaces available, as well as a common entry foyer accessed directly from the car park.

The tenancy has a further two entry points both located at the front of the building on Hunter Street.

Leased to Mission Australia until 2016, and 991square metres in size, the property attracts a current rental of $145,921.70 per year (plus GST).

It will go to auction on Friday, November 14 at 10.30am through Colliers agents Adam Leacy and Michael Chapman.

A Victorian manufacturer has become the first employer to cut jobs after the Abbott government revealed its plans to slice the renewable energy target by as much as 40 per cent.

Keppel Prince Engineering said it would mothball its unit building towers for wind turbines at its base in Portland in south-west Victoria.

The firm’s workforce of 360 will be cut by almost a third, sinking by more than 100 positions to about 250, said Stephen Garner, Keppel Prince’s general manager.

Mr Garner said doubts about the future of renewable energy caused by the government’s plan to review and now cut the target for 2020 had stalled investment.

“With the uncertainty with [the renewable energy target], investors have just put their hands in their pockets,” Mr Garner said.

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane on Wednesday confirmed industry fears that the government planned to slash the target for renewable energy.

The government wants to reduce the existing goal of 41,000 gigawatt-hours of clean energy by decade’s end to about 27,000 gigawatt-hours, citing an excess capacity in the electricity supply.

Renewable energy developers, such as wind farms, say they invested on the basis of the previous bipartisan accord and that changing the goal would all but stop the industry in its tracks.

About two-thirds fewer plants will have to be built by 2020 to satisfy the need to meet the planned lower target.

The government’s lower goal, should it get support in the Senate, “will effectively kill the wind farm industry” in the region and beyond, Mr Garner said.

The company would seek to retain a core group of specialists should the industry recover, he said, adding that Keppel Prince had not won a new order for about 14 months when concern about reviews of the industry began to bite.

The job cuts could have some impact on Victoria’s state elections on November 29.

Keppel Prince is located in the electorate of Liberal Premier Denis Napthine, who has pledged to generate 200,000 jobs over the next five years.

Confidence in the finance sector is above average.Running a business can be challenging. Keeping customers happy, staying ahead of the competition and finding new customers can be tough.

The good news is confidence among small- and medium-sized businesses has bounced back strongly, according to the latest Sensis Business Index. Overall confidence levels rose 16 percentage points in the last quarter, although they are still below the post-election peak recorded in November 2013.

The SBI, based on the views of 1,000 small and medium businesses, revealed 53 per cent of small business owners are feeling confident about the year ahead, up from 47 per cent in June. This confidence is driven by having a solid customer base, good profitability and a strong pipeline of new business.

Small businesses are also expecting economic conditions to improve. The index found small businesses are anticipating an increase in sales, employment, wages, prices, profitability and capital expenditure.

Confidence in the finance and insurance sector, the wholesale trade, and health and community services sectors are all above average. The manufacturing sector continued its trend of having the lowest confidence levels. It has shown the lowest levels for a number of quarters, along with the transport and storage sector, where confidence is also well below average.Encouragingly, only a quarter of business owners reported being worried about their prospects. The lack of work or sales was the most pressing problem, with a strong sense people aren’t spending and increasing concern about competition. The economic climate, bureaucracy and cash flow were among the other challenges we heard.The question the report raises for small business owners is how to generate sales and beat the competition. There are a few straightforward things they can do to improve marketing and attract new business.Firstly, make sure you know exactly who your customers are, what’s important to them, and where they search for information before they buy. While it is clear we are in the digital age, many customers use traditional print media and directories or a combination of print and digital to find what they’re looking for.With more and more people searching and shopping online, it’s increasingly important your business can be easily found from whatever device people are using. This starts with having a website that works for you, with useful content, not too much clutter and easy ways to interact with your customers.

It’s also important to think about where you appear in online searches, otherwise known as search engine optimisation. Focusing on quality content on your website and online listings, including images and video is the best place to start. You can earn significant amounts of new business by making it onto the first page for searches for businesses in your area.

Finally, with more and more people using reviews, discounts and offers online before deciding to make a purchase, social media has become a crucial part of the marketing mix.

With the research showing growing confidence among small business and expectations of an improving economy, a few simple improvements to your marketing could really make the difference for your business. John Allan is the CEO of Sensis

Boart Long chief executive Richard O’Brien says a distressed debt firm’s control of the company was the “by far the best option” for the fiscally challenged mining services company which otherwise would have faced defaulting on its loan next year.

Shares in Boart Longyear soared 40 per cent on the news that the driller entered into a $300 million deal with private equity firm Centerbridge Partners, a move which will see the troubled company return from the brink of material uncertainty.

Centerbridge confirmed on Thursday that it will take control of the mining services company and significantly increase its ownership from a 12.7 per cent shareholding prior to the deal to 19.9 per cent on Thursday and as much as 41.6 per cent if the deal is fully implemented.

As revealed by Fairfax Media, the deal will see Boart’s existing shareholders keep their existing shares and have the opportunity to participate in an underwritten rights offer at a price of US13.5¢ per share.

The deal completes the strategic review process initiated by the company in February 2014, through which Mr O’Brien said the company was presented with numerous options for recovery.

“This is the best option for our existing shareholders,” he said.

“Here is a very well heeled, well capitalised longer term investor who wants to own equity in this company and who will bring not just capital but commitment. With that our other equity shareholders can ride on the back of Centrebridge through to the market recovery.”

The deal comprises of both debt and equity components and, if approved by shareholders, is expected to be fully-completed by the end of January 2015.

Under the deal, Centrebridge will provide a $US120 million “covenant-lite” term loan which replaces Boart’s former revolving credit facility and provides capacity for a $US105 million tender offer to secured bondholders.

This is key for Boart which, according to Mr O’Brien, had debt which threatened to “blow up”.

“Doing nothing is just not an option,” he said. “The bank covenants under our former revolving credit facility were almost certainly going to blow up at the end of next year.”

Mr O’Brien said that in order for Boart to meet its former covenants, the market would have had to recover considerably and quickly during the first half of 2015.

“If we didn’t see that we would have had to make another amendment from our bank group. We have received five in the last 24 months and I think the bank’s patience was wearing out,” he said.

“We believe this recapitalisation will remove the huge shadow of uncertainty that financial risk has cast across our otherwise valuable and unique franchise.”

Mr O’Brien confirmed on a call with analysts that the new term loan has no financial maintenance covenants, including no new maximum debt level, but did have “standard terms of default”.

The term loan has accretive interest of 12 per cent, reducing to 11 per cent for each quarter that trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA is greater than $US200 million.

Despite this being higher than the 10 per cent debt the company was previously paying, Mr O’Brien said the benefits are that it is fully funded, accretive and is only payable at the maturity of the debt in 2020.

The company had net debt levels of $US550 million as at September 30, which Mr O’Brien said would be reduced by $US120 million as a result of the deal.

In the equity component of the deal, Centerbridge will inject between $US119 million and $US127 million in the company.

A $US6 million unconditional placement has been completed and increased Centerbridge’s ownership to 19.9 per cent. Another $US21 million placement is planned for late December, taking Centerbridge’s stake to 37 per cent.

Boart said that following the rights offer and an unsecured notes equitisation, Centerbridge ownership will be a minimum of 41.6 per cent assuming 100 per cent take up and no shares are bought back under the share buy-back. Its voting rights in ordinary shares are set to be capped at 49.9 per cent.

Goldman Sachs and Greenhill advised Boart Longyear on the strategic review, while Centrebridge was advised by Moelis.

Difficult conditions persisted for the driller in its quarterly results for the three months to September 30, announced simultaneously on Thursday.

Revenue increased 6.8 per cent to $US239.3 million from $US224.1 million last quarter, but remained 14.4 per cent lower than the same time last year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization was $US12.3 million and a net loss after tax of $US38.3 million was reported, an improvement on the net loss of $US114.7 million reported the three months prior.

Revenue in both the company’s divisions, drilling services and products, increased as the company flagged a stabilisation in demand, with drilling services rig utilisation increasing marginally to 40 per cent.

Boart flagged a market recovery in July, stating that conditions were “at or approaching market bottom”. Mr O’Brien stood by this on Thursday but said that a sharp recovery was not imminent.

“We are seeing our drill rig utilisation begin to flatten out,” he said. “We still feel like we are at or approaching bottom but we are not saying we are going to see a rapid recovery.”

The company’s shares, which have hovered between 8.5¢ and 50.5¢ in the past year, jumped as much as 40 per cent on the news on Thursday to 21.5¢.